Mediterranean diet tied to lower risk of gestational diabetes: Research

With the Mediterranean diet, women also gained less weight: an average of 6.8 kg (15 pounds) versus 8.3 kg (18 pounds) for the control group of mothers on their usual diets

Health News: Pregnant women at high risk of developing gestational diabetes may be less likely to experience this complication when they switch to a Mediterranean diet instead of sticking with their usual eating habits, a recent experiment suggests.

Researchers studied 1,252 women who had obesity, high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol before they conceived all so-called metabolic risk factors that increase the risk of gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Midway through pregnancy, researchers randomly assigned roughly half of these women to switch to a Mediterranean diet rich in nuts, extra virgin olive oil, fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes and low on sugary foods as well as red and processed meat. The remaining mothers continued their usual diets, according to the report in PLoS Medicine.

Compared to women who didn’t change their eating habits, mothers who switched to the Mediterranean diet were 35 per cent less likely to develop gestational diabetes, a version of the disease that shows up for the first time during pregnancy. With the Mediterranean diet, women also gained less weight: an average of 6.8 kg (15 pounds) versus 8.3 kg (18 pounds) for the control group of mothers on their usual diets….